Items tagged with gigabit

There’s really no other way to say it: BT and Alcatel-Lucent claim that they’ve reached Internet speeds of 1.4Tbps over an existing fiber connection. To be clear, that terabits, not gigabits; we’ve covered a good amount of news related to the latter lately because almost nobody has access to those kinds of speeds as it is. So, yes, terabit Internet speeds. The companies conducted this field trial in the UK, using a fiber link between the BT Tower in London and the company’s Adastral Park research facility in Suffolk. The underlying technology is a flexible grid infrastructure...Read more...

While Google rolls out its Google Fiber gigabit Internet service slowly and surely in Kansas City, Provo (UT), and Austin (TX), other companies such as CenturyLink, C-Spire, and AT&T have pledged to provide similar services. At least one city isn’t waiting for an ISP to take the reigns on a gigabit Internet rollout, though. The city of Los Angeles is issuing an RFP, or request for proposals, for a citywide gigabit Internet service. The service will provide Internet access to “every residence, every business, and every government entity within the city limits of Los Angeles”,...Read more...

While the gigabit Internet revolution (well, evolution) continues for the likes of Google, AT&T, and a handful of smaller ISPs, CenturyLink won’t be left behind. The company is nearly ready to launch its gigabit Internet service in Omaha, NE, and it just announced that it will be rolling out service to Las Vegas, too. "CenturyLink is pleased to announce that Las Vegas will be the next city to receive ultra-fast broadband speeds up to 1 Gbps," said Matt Beal, CenturyLink chief technology officer, in a press release. "We know our customers will embrace this new technology that will allow...Read more...

Months after Google surprisingly selected Provo, Utah as one of the first cities to get the Google Fiber treatment, and weeks after the city officially closed the deal with Google, the search giant-come-ISP said in a blog post that service is coming by the end of the year. Before that happens, though, Google needs to upgrade Provo’s existing fiber network--the city’s expensive fiber-optic “iProvo” network was in need of rescue--and also work with managers of larger properties to get everything hooked up. “We’re spending a lot of time talking with property managers...Read more...

When Google first unveiled its 1Gbit fiber Internet service last summer, it seemed unlikely that such speeds would become common anytime soon. However, there was great hope that with Google's pressure, other ISPs would be pushed towards offering their own 1Gbit services. This past April, we did see some evidence of that, with AT&T promising to roll out its own 1Gbit service in the Austin, Texas area. Things don't stop there. It seems that some of the biggest ISPs are being seriously slow to catch onto the 1Gbit option, with Verizon charging a staggering $210 in some areas for a 300Mbit/s connection....Read more...

There’s no denying that in today’s world, data is king, and the Internet is his queen. (Or perhaps vice versa.) In the U.S., there’s been much talk about gigabit (1Gbps) Internet speeds for the masses thanks in large part to the efforts of Google and its Google Fiber projects, but the EU--where average Internet speeds are around 19.7Mbps--has its sights set on a much higher goal. The EU and Japan are collaborating on six research projects, that, among other goals, would ostensibly result in the build out of 100Gbps networks. Other challenges the projects will address include cyber...Read more...

Whether or not Google launched its Google Fiber Internet service as a legitimate business venture or as a massive trolling measure to shake up the broadband market (as some believe), its effect has been evident in how ISPs are competing. Leveraging a partnership with the city of Seattle and its fiber optic network, Gigabit Squared (or “GB2”, for short) is rolling out “ultra high speed fiber” gigabit Internet service to several Seattle neighborhoods in 2014. The cost will be $80 per month, and with that subscription GB2 will waive the $350 construction fee. That’s $10...Read more...

It’s router time, baby. D-Link has a new quartet of them, and they all sport 802.11ac technology, which is the next generation of WiFi speed, which will enable more flexible options for streaming movies, gaming online, and other activities. "Today's average home now has more than 15 devices, oftentimes with multiple iPads, iPhones, as well as Android phones and tablets," said Daniel Kelley, vice president of marketing, D-Link Systems, Inc. That’s a lot of devices fighting for bandwidth. D-Link's AC router family D-Link’s AC routers feature advanced remote network management and...Read more...

The race towards gigabit Internet continues as Google Fiber slowly proliferates and other ISPs work to catch up, but Samsung announced that it’s actually looking at gigabit speeds--for mobile devices. Indeed, Samsung says it has been testing a 5G mobile communications system, the eventual successor to 4G LTE that is capable of up to 1Gbps. The 5G technology, dubbed mmWave, runs in millimeter Ka bands and requires a “broad range” of frequencies but operates at 28GHz, delivering up to 1.056Gbps for up to 2 kilometers. It uses adaptive array transceiver technology with 64 antenna...Read more...

After starting out in Kansas City, Google has looked to grow its gigabit Google Fiber networks sometimes in leaps (Austin, TX and Provo, UT) and sometimes in steps (adding Kansas City, MO to Kansas City, KS). The latest announcement that Google is planning to light up Shawnee, KS is the latter. In a blog post, Google announced that the Shawnee City Council voted to bring Google Fiber to the smallish town, which is a western suburb of Kansas City. Google didn’t give a particularly compelling reason for adding Shawnee--other than a half-hearted bit about how the city has kept its citizens informed...Read more...

Make all the jokes you want about Nebraska, but that state knows college football, beef, corn, and living the good life, and now its largest city (which is a rapidly growing area, by the way) will be one of the precious few metropolitan areas in the country with gigabit Internet. ISP CenturyLink announced today that it will be piloting a fiber network that will deliver gigabit speeds to some 48,000 homes and businesses on the west side of Omaha. CenturyLink already has a fiber network there, and the company will upgrade it to fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) technology to allow for the high Internet...Read more...

As expected, the Provo Municipal Council unanimously approved the measure regarding bringing Google to town to take over the city’s struggling iProvo fiber network. Google will retrofit the network for its Google Fiber service, which will make the relatively small town of Provo just the third locale with the gigabit Internet and TV service. The Salt Lake Tribune grabbed some more specific details, including confirming that Provo is selling the network to Google for the ceremonial price of one dollar. Google will offer its 5Mbps Internet service to Provo residents for free for 7 years and...Read more...

Google announced that the next lucky locale to get Google Fiber service will be Provo, Utah. Instead of starting from scratch and building the infrastructure, the company is in the process of purchasing iProvo, which is a pre-existing fiber-optic network, from the city of Provo. That network, however, is over a decade old, so Google will have to perform upgrades and also finish building out the network to reach all the homes along the network route. There’s one catch, though: the city council has to vote on it. “Our agreement with Provo isn’t approved yet—it’s pending...Read more...

A few years ago, when Google was determining which city to launch its pilot Google Fiber program, cities all over the country went all-out trying to persuade the search giant to bring all that fantastical bandwidth to their neck of the woods. And with good reason: Google Fiber offers gigabit Internet speeds and even TV service, all at prices that meet or beat the competition. In fact, the lowest tier of Google Fiber service (5Mbps down, 1Mbps up) is free once users pay a $300 construction fee. Eventually, Kansas City was the lucky locale chosen for the Google Fiber launch, and by all accounts things...Read more...